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President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday announced an R152 billion plan to revive France’s car industry by making it the European leader in electric cars, in a boost for a sector brought to its knees by the coronavirus.

Macron said the package would include one billion euros in subsidies for electric and hybrid cars, adding France should be producing a million green cars annually by 2025. The “historic” intervention will aim to turn France’s rechargeable car industry into Europe’s biggest, the president said.

Visiting a car factory in Etaples in northern France, Macron said his government would seek to boost flagging customer demand with a subsidy of €7 000 for each individual buying an electric car, €5 000 for each company purchase, and €2 000 per hybrid rechargeable car.

Starting June 1, there would also be an aid of €3 000 for converting from a petrol-fuelled car to a less-polluting one – and as much as €5 000 euros to upgrade to an electric vehicle, the president said.

“In total, the state will provide a bit more than €8 billion in aid to the sector,” said Macron.

France, the home of Renault, Citroen and Peugeot, has seen car sales and revenue slashed by some 80 percent as a result of a two-month nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, said Macron. — AFP.